Three inducted into the Hall of Fame

Glavine

Maddux

Thomas

On Wednesday afternoon, the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) announced the selections for the Baseball Hall of Fame for the 2014 induction. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas reached baseball immortality on Wednesday, as each received enough votes to be selected into the Hall. A player must reach 75% of the votes to make the Hall of Fame. Here is the full list of players on the ballot, and how close they were to reaching the Hall. 

Player (years on ballot)

Greg Maddux (1)
Tom Glavine (1)
Frank Thomas (1)
Craig Biggio (2)
Mike Piazza (2)
Jack Morris (15)*
Jeff Bagwell (4)
Tim Raines (7)
Roger Clemens (2) 
Barry Bonds (2)
Lee Smith (12)
Curt Schilling (2)
Edgar Martinez (5)
Alan Trammell (13)
Mike Mussina (1)
Jeff Kent (1)
Fred McGriff (8)
Mark McGwire (8)
Larry Walker (4)
Don Mattingly (14)
Sammy Sosa (2)
Rafael Palmeiro (4)*
Moises Alou (1)*
Hideo Nomo (1)*
Luis Gonzalez (1)*
Eric Gagne (1)*
J.T. Snow (1)*
Armando Benitez (1)*
Jacque Jones (1)*
Kenny Rogers (1)*
Sean Casey (1)*
Ray Durham (1)*
Todd Jones (1)*
Paul Lo Duca (1)*
Richie Sexton (1)*
Mike Timlin (1)*

*denotes player will not be returning on ballot

Total Votes

555
525
478
427
355
351
310
263
202
198
171
167
144
119
116
87
67
63
58
47
41
25
6
6
5
2
2
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0

Percentage 

97.2
91.9
83.7
74.8
62.2
61.5
54.3
46.1
35.4
34.7
29.9
29.2
25.2
20.8
20.3
15.2
11.7
11.0
10.2
8.2
7.2
4.4
1.1
1.1
0.9
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0

Craig Biggio missed the voting for a second consecutive year by a slim margin, as he got 74.8% of the votes. In the voting for the 2013 induction, Biggio received the most votes for the Hall, receiving 68.2%. Players need at least 75% of the votes to get inducted into the Hall of Fame, meaning Biggio missed the cut by .2% for the 2014 induction. 

Players are able to stay of the Hall of Fame for 15 years. If they do not receive 5% of votes in any given year, they will not return to the ballot the following year. Jack Morris is the only player on the ballot who will not be returning to the ballot due to time; 14 players will not be returning due to percentages. Morris could still be voted in by the Expansion Era committee on their 2016 ballot. 

Glavine, Maddux, and Thomas will add to a Hall induction that already includes three legendary managers (via Expansion Era ballot): Bobby Cox, Joe Torre, and Tony La Russa. After a year where nobody was inducted into the Hall by the BBWAA, a rich induction seems to be upon the horizon. 

The induction ceremony will occur July 26-27, 2014, in Cooperstown, New York.